WWE Raw Recap: The Top 5 Moments of Last Night's Show

Last night, WWE Raw treated fans to another entertaining Monday night, with the hottest names in professional wrestling bringing their A games to our televisions as WWE builds towards WrestleMania XXVIII.  

Bleacher Report has rounded up the top five moments of the night, and there was no shortage of memorable moments to choose from.  

With only two weeks until WrestleMania, the WWE Superstars were performing to the best of their abilities, and it showed.  

CM Punk addressed Chris Jericho after Jericho exposed that Punk's father was an alcoholic last week on Raw. The promo Punk delivered was passionate and confirmed that the shocking new direction of their feud was a breath of fresh air.

John Cena took to the ring after a Monday morning car crash that had the Internet buzzing with speculation and garnered the WWE some main stream coverage.  

The night closed with a three-man promo among Shawn Michaels, Triple H and Undertaker. With the end of an era looming, there was no shortage of pot stirring by the Dead Man.  

Check out which moments made our top five and sound off in the comment section with your top moments of the night!  

Cody Rhodes Opens Fire on Big Show

Raw began with a clash of the titans when Big Show squared off with Kane.  

Before the match got underway, Cody Rhodes came down and stood at ringside, sporting a pair of boxing gloves.

As the giants threw down in the ring, Rhodes shadowboxed at ringside, attempting to distract Big Show.  

When Big Show had the upper hand and positioned himself on the second rope, Rhodes got involved. Rhodes jumped on the apron and looked to get his hands on Show, but was thrown to the floor.  

Kane took Big Show's lapse of concentration and used it to his advantage, finishing Show off with a chokeslam.  

To add insult to injury, Cody Rhodes hit Big Show with his Disaster Kick, then handcuffed him to the ropes and unleashed a vicious punch combo to Show's skull.  

It won't be long before Big Show is granted the opportunity to get his massive mitts on Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania XXVIII, and if he has his way, he'll be getting his hands on the Intercontinental Championship as well. 

WWE Competently Books a Tag Team Match

When WWE does things right, boy, do they do it right.  

On paper, a basic midcard tag team match doesn't seem like anything to write home about, but let's dig a little deeper.

Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger took on the hot new team of Kofi Kingston and R-Truth, and it was sold by the announcers as a "Team Johnny vs. Team Teddy" match. 

Kofi and Truth brought Teddy Long's girlfriend Aksana with them, which led to an inevitable catfight between her and Vickie Guerrero when Vickie made sure her team won.

In the end, tension continued to build toward the WrestleMania showdown between Team Johnny and Team Teddy—two solid tag teams performed well and no time was wasted. 

Not too shabby. 

The Rock Sends a Clear Message to John Cena

Sometimes, talking is overrated.  

John Cena had just overcame the World's Strongest Man, Mark Henry, in a surprisingly good match when The Rock's music hit.

Rocky had come to send a message to John Cena. The WrestleMania headliners glared at one another, then The Rock suddenly hit the Rock Bottom on Mark Henry.  

With that, The Rock was gone. The message was clear. At WrestleMania, words won't decide the victor. Rocky is going to bring it, and we can expect Cena to do the same. 

"He Is"

The show-closing promo between Undertaker, Triple H and Shawn Michaels didn't quite live up to the hype, but that doesn't mean it was without its high point.

Undertaker had spoken his piece and was about to leave the ring.  He stopped and came eye to eye with his WrestleMania opponent—Triple H.

The Dead Man asked Triple H if he remembered when he told him Shawn was better than him.  After a short pause, Taker dropped a bombshell.

"He is." 

It was a spine-chilling moment, capped off well by the smirk on Michaels' face.

CM Punk and Chris Jericho Hit Their Stride

I was critical of the decision to turn the feud between WWE Champion CM Punk and Chris Jericho toward alcoholism.  

Tonight, my worries were put to rest.

CM Punk kicked Raw off with one of the most passionate, real promos in recent memory.  

Many consider Punk a natural heel, but he was at home as a babyface champion as he addressed Chris Jericho, telling the world that no matter who you are, no matter what the circumstances, your past doesn't dictate your future. 

The segment took an interesting turn when Chris Jericho apologized to Punk and swore to never speak of his father again...then brought up how Punk's sister has a substance-abuse problem as well.  

As Jericho laid out his plan to drive Punk to alcohol by taking his championship, Punk finally erupted, yelling obscenities at Jericho before bringing the focus back to their showdown at WrestleMania.